by Sherrill Fulghum

Created on: November 27, 2011

After watching every season of "Dancing with the Stars" and writing about many of them; it has become clear that the comments and scores passed out by the judges each week mean little to many of the viewers of the show and would rather cast their votes for their favourite "stars" no matter how badly that star performs.  

Head judge Len Goodman and his fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba were all professional dancers and choreographers before they came to the "Dancing with the Stars" judging table.  Consequently the judges base their comments solely on the performance they see on the dance floor that night.  On the other hand; many of the voting fans and viewers do not know the difference between a pirouette and a plie, nor do they particularly care.  Many fans watch to see - and vote for - their favourite celebrity.  

With the diversity ABC uses in the selection of the celebrity dancers, it is not unusual for a viewer to be familiar with only one or two of the contestants and therefore; not care about whether that celebrity moves on no matter how well they dance.  It is possible that in the end the best dancer truly did win the competition, but for the most part the competition reality show known as "Dancing with the Stars" is a popularity contest.

Every season a supposed fan favourite is eliminated early on in the competition; while a celebrity with the proverbial two left feet remains in the competiton for several weeks until eventually that star cannot garner enough points and votes to remain on the show.  Surprisingly athletes have faird well on the show with former NFL star Emmitt Smith, speed skater Apollo Ono, ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi, , race car driver Helio Castroneves, and Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward all taking home the Mirrorball trophy despite having a lack of dancing proficiency prior to signing on to the show.  Not surprising has been the success of singers and actors, but the reality show "stars" and politicians that have been a part of the "Dancing with the Stars" have not fared so well.  And while many of them were somewhat under wheliming on the dance floor; they were also not nearly as popular as the singers, actors, and sports stars.

"Dancing with the Stars", like all reality competitions, were originally designed to showcase talent, but whenever the general voting public becomes involved the outcome is based purely on popularity and likability.

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